PUTNAM DIVERSIFIED INCOME TRUST
PUTNAM INTERNATIONAL GROWTH & INCOME FUND
PUTNAM INTERNATIONAL NEW OPPORTUNITIES FUND
PROSOPECTUS SUPPLEMENT
FEBRUARY 1, 1999 TO PROSPECTUSES DATED
JANUARY 30, 1999, OCTOBER 30, 1998, AND
JANUARY 30, 1999, RESPECTIVELY:
Effective February 1, 1999, each Fund listed above will offer Class C shares.
This document provides important information about Class C shares and
supplements the Prospectus of each such Fund
THE SECTION "FEES AND EXPENSES" IS SUPPLEMENTED AS FOLLOWS:
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table summarizes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold
Class C shares of a fund. You pay shareholder fees directly. Annual fund
operating expenses are deducted from a fund's assets.
SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)
Maximum Sales Charge (Load)
Imposed On Purchases (as a
percentage of the offering price)NONE
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge
(Load)(as a percentage of the
original purchase price or redemption
proceeds, whichever is lower) 1.00%
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES
(expenses that are deducted from fund assets)
TOTAL ANNUAL
MANAGEMENT DISTRIBUTION OTHER FUND OPERATING
FEES (12B-1) FEES EXPENSES EXPENSES
DIVERSIFIED INCOME 0.53% 1.00 % 0.19% 1.72%
INTERNATIONAL GROWTH & INCOME 0.78% 1.00 % 0.33% 2.11%
INTERNATIONAL NEW OPPORTUNITIES 1.10% 1.00 % 0.40% 2.50%
EXAMPLE
This example translates the "total annual fund operating expenses" shown in the
preceding table into dollar amounts. By doing this, you can more easily
compare the cost of investing in a fund to the cost of investing
in other mutual funds. The example makes certain assumptions. It assumes that
you invest $10,000 in a fund for the time periods shown and redeem all your
shares at the end of those periods. It also assumes a 5% return
on your investment each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain
the same. The example is hypothetical; your actual costs and returns may be
higher or lower.
1 YEAR
NO REDEMPTION 1 YEAR 3
YEARS 5 YEARS 10 YEARS
DIVERSIFIED INCOME $175 $275 $542 $933
$2,030
INTERNATIONAL GROWTH & INCOME $214 $314 $661
$1,134 $2,441
INTERNATIONAL NEW OPPORTUNITIES $253 $353 $779
$1,331 $2,836
THE SECTION "HOW DO I BUY FUNDS SHARES?" IS REPLACED BY THE FOLLOWING
(EXCEPT FOR THE TABLES OF CLASS A AND M INITIAL SALES CHARGES
AND CLASS A AND B DEFERRED SALES CHARGES, WHICH REMAIN UNCHANGED):
HOW DO I BUY FUND SHARES?
You can open a fund account with as little as $500 and make additional
investments at any time with as little as $50. Each fund sells
its shares at the offering price, which is the NAV plus any applicable
sales charge. Your financial advisor or Putnam Investor
Services generally must receive your completed buy order before the close of
regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange for your shares to be bought
at that day's offering price.
YOU CAN BUY SHARES
*THROUGH A FINANCIAL ADVISOR Your advisor will be responsible for furnishing
all necessary documents to Putnam Investor Services, and
may charge you for his or her services.
*THROUGH SYSTEMATIC INVESTING You can make regular investments of $25 or more
per month through automatic deductions from your bank
checking or savings account. Application forms are available
through your advisor or Putnam Investor Services at 1-800-225-1581.
You may also complete an order form and write a check for the amount
you wish to invest, payable to the fund. Return the check and
completed form to Putnam Mutual Funds. Each fund may periodically close to new
purchases of shares or refuse any order to buy shares if the fund determines
that doing so would be in the best interests of the fund and its shareholders.
WHICH CLASS OF SHARES IS BEST FOR ME?
This prospectus offers you a choice of four classes of fund shares:
A, B, C, and M. This allows you to choose among different types of
sales charges and different levels of ongoing operating expenses,
as illustrated in the "Fees and expenses" section. The class of
shares that is best for you depends on a number of factors, including
the amount you plan to invest and how long you plan to hold
the shares. Here is a summary of the differences among the classes of shares:
CLASS A SHARES
*Initial sales charge of up to 5.75%
*Lower sales charge for investments of $50,000 or more
*No deferred sales charge (except on certain redemptions of shares
bought without an initial sales charge)
*Lower annual expenses, and higher dividends,
than class B or class M shares because of lower 12b-1 fee
CLASS B SHARES
*No initial sales charge; your entire investment goes to work for you
*Deferred sales charge of up to 5% if you sell shares within 6 years
after you bought them
*Higher annual expenses, and lower dividends, than class A or class M
shares because of higher 12b-1 fee
*Convert automatically to class A shares after about 8 years, reducing
the future 12b-1 fee (and may convert sooner in some cases)
*Orders for class B shares for more than $250,000 are treated as orders
for class A shares or refused
CLASS C SHARES
*No initial sales charge
*Deferred sales charge of 1.00% if you sell your shares within one year
after you bought them
*Higher annual expenses, and lower dividends, than class A or class M shares
because of higher 12b-1 fee
*Orders for $1 million or more are treated as orders for Class A shares
or refused
*No conversion to Class A Shares, so future 12b-1 fee does not decrease
CLASS M SHARES
*Initial sales charge of up to 3.50%
*Lower sales charges for larger investments of $50,000 or more
*No deferred sales charge
*Lower annual expenses, and higher dividends,than class B shares because
of lower 12b-1 fee
*Higher annual expenses, and lower dividends, than class A shares because
of higher 12b-1 fee
*No conversion to class A shares, so future 12b-1 fee does not decrease
O You may be eligible for reductions and waivers of sales charges.
Sales charges may be reduced or waived under certain
circumstances and for certain groups. Information about reductions
and waivers of sales charges is included in the SAI. You may
consult your financial advisor or Putnam Mutual Funds for assistance.
O DISTRIBUTION (12B-1) PLANS. Each fund has adopted distribution
plans to pay for the marketing of fund shares and for services
provided to shareholders. The plans provide for payments at annual
rates (based on average net assets) of up to 0.35% on class A
shares and 1.00% on class B, class C and class M shares. The Trustees
currently limit payments on class A and class M shares to
0.25% and 0.75% (0.50% for Diversified Income Trust) of average net
assets, respectively. Because these fees are paid out of each
fund's assets on an ongoing basis, the higher fees for class B,
class C and class M shares will increase the cost of your investment
over time and may cost you more than paying the initial sales charge
for class A shares. Because class C and class M shares, unlike
class B shares, do not convert to class A shares, class C and
class M shares may cost you more over time than class B shares.
